Well tool



e. B. LOUDERBLACK WELL TOOL Filed May 1924 afl wfi 7 2 f .0 gw M r MM, w. MW%,67 WWW. M a a /$2 w 6 96 g 9 m@ g a/u fi/v w w w a 4 6 3 '4 JVMW 7 ,/OY=0Q Patented Jan. i925,

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GEORGE B. LOUDERBACK, OF COMPTON, CALIFORN'IL WELL TOOL.

Application filed MayJZ,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. [Loomin- BACK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Compton, in the county of Los Angeles and State .of California, have invented a new and useful lVell Tool, of which a'speci-' fication is set forth below.

In thisspecification, and the accompanying drawing, I shall describe and show apre ferred form of my invention, and specifically mention certain of itsmore important ob-' jects. I do not limit myself to the forms disclosed, since various changes and adaptations may be made therein without departing from the essence of my invention as hereinafter claimed; and ob ects and advantages, other than those specifically mentoaccomplish the above objects by means of a very simple and rugged construction that may be depended upon to function as intended.

My objects are attained in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in WhlCll- Y i Figure l is a longitudinal central section of the complete tool;

Figure 2 is a similar section taken on a plane perpendicular to that of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4 respectively are enlarged cross sections of the tool taken on the. planes 3- 3 and 4-4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 'is' a cross section taken on the plane 55 of Figure 1, drawn to the same scale as Figures 3 and 4.

Similar reference numerals refer to simi' lar parts throughout the several views.

In an application for patent filed January 16, 1924, serial No. 686,569; and a second application filed February 11,192 Serial No. 691,998; I disclosed a novel type and' arrangement of cutting blades for a drilling bit, and means for advancing them from the lower end of the tool obliquely to the axis.

For convenience of illustrationkl have se-- lected asimilartool for disclosing the present invention which-however; concerns itc self only withmechanismfor feeding or ad--' 1924. Serial No, 712,736.

vancing the cutting blades. mechanism is well adapted for advancing a large variety of types and arrangements of cutting blades or other devices requiring periodic feeding.

The drilling bit depicted has a lower body comprising twosimilar matched halves 6 and 7 made as-right and left respectively, and assembled face to face. The faces are accurately machined or ground so as to contact closely and form a tight joint. Assembly of these body halves is accomplished by means of a wedge ring 8 at the bottom, and

by a tubular housing 9 screwed upon them at- This feeding an intermediate point by means of the slight- 1y tapering thread 10. There is also a small screwed collar 11 at the extreme top, within housing 9, but this is chiefly for another purpose which will be explained. A pair of through bolts 12 at the bottom give still further assurance against displacement. I

The body halves are so shaped that, when assembled, the lower portion is slightly wedge-shaped as indicated in Figure 2. This portion of the body in reality is a modified ellipse in section, as seen in Figure 5, and

the section becomes increasingly elongated in its proportions toward the bottom of the tool. The halves are assembled by driving wedge band 8 up from the bottom on to a slightly tapered seat to a shoulder at 13.

The band is prevented from backing off by means of a pair of wedges 14, shown only in Figure 5, which are driven up from-the it still further. The'wedg'es, in turn, may be prevented from becoming displaced in numerous ways that .will occur to those familiar with this class of construction, such as by the use of retaining screws (not shown);

The abutting faces of the body halves are made with various recesses, which form closed chambers for the accommodation of the working mechanism when thehalves are assembled, and with grooves orchannels for guiding the moving parts. 1 The tool illustrated has a pair of oblique bifurcated cuttingblades 15 and 16, cross-flanged at their upper ends to engage the cross-grooved blade head '17, and be longitudinally positioned thereby. Theblades' and bladehead work wthin shallow rectangular recesses as 18.

Furthermore the blades are provided wit longitudinal flanges 19, on their" leadin faces, and these, by engaging oblique grooves bottom under the band and serve to tighten the body halves, as indicated F 1gure'5 and as showni n Figure lat 20, serve to maintain the blades in oblique alignment with re-' spect to the axis of the tool. As blade head 17 is moved downward the blades are thus ted obliqucl from the end of the tool, their upper en s meanwhile traversing the blade headiri-engagement with its cross groove.

. The feeding mechanism, which'is the subject matter of this invention comprises a feed -screw'2l engaged by a cylindrical flanged nut 22. The screw is aifixed or made integral with the blade head and does not turn,

' and the nut maybe rotated about its axls to lower the screw and blade head; Bene th 5 the nut is a ball thrust bearing 23 adapted to ort the weight of the blade head and;

su 'bla ld esso that the nut mayv be easily turned when the'toolis slightly raised from the hot- 1 tom'of the well for the purpose of advancing the blades. The ball thrust, and the flanges on the feed nut serve to position the feed" ing mechanism within the tool .body in the mamer plainly indicated in Figures 1 an 2. I a

25 Thenp er end ofi'zthe feed nut is enjlarged an worm-gearteeth 24L are out there in. .7 multi le-threaded' worm 25, adapted to revolve a out a horizontal axis."engages thisiworm gear to'turn the nut. The worm itself can ber'otated by. means of a pair of ratchet-toothed clutch collars 26, affixed to its shaft 27 and adapted for engagement by similar ratchet teeth on the hubs of a pair of inions 28 free to revolve about this shai' t. Helical springs 29 normally maintain the respective sets of ratchet teeth in engagee ment, since the pinions are free to slide longi- .t udinaIIyupon shaft 27 I I "Extending in suitable grooves throughout the'lengthof the tool body'are a pair of ofi'set 'lunger rods 30 for actuating the feed mec anism. ,These are spaced, withthe cutting blades and feed mechanism between them. They protrude from the lower end of the tool and are joined outside by means of an operating shoe 31. At their upper ends'the plunger rods are connected together by means of a yoke 32 which stradfdles a; cylindricalneck 33 at the upper end sfi of the tool body, and is guided'thereby.

Helical s ringlg34 normally forces the yoke I downwar by reacting against collar 11, and the plunger rods and operating shoe .thus normally extend a considerable distance 1 below the end of the tool as shown in Figures 1 and 2. When the weight of the tool is allowed to rest upon the bottom of the drill hole however, ,the plunger rods are forced upward, and the operatingshoe then ,as- 'sumes .the dotted position "shownin Figure 1 within a recess 35flprovidedfor that pur-' pose. Rods 30 have a series of integral rack teeth 36 formed upongthemjat the proper I position for engaging pinions 28, d the feeding mechanism isaetuated by th verti cal movement of gagement. I

Housing 9 is provided with a tool joint pin 37 at'its upper extremity, for engag ing the tool string. This pin is axlally' the rods through this enbored and within the bore is a circulating pipe 38 communicating with a distributing head 39 in the up er end of the housing.

vStuff ng box 40 a ords means of making a tight joint between pipe 38 and the bore of pin 37, an prevents water or mud from entering the interior of housing 9. Pipes 41 bent as may-be necessary, lead downward from head. 39 into grooves 42 in' the respective body parts, and-are brazed, or otherwise made tight-therein, so that there shall I out in the lower ends. of grooves42. The I circulating water thus passes completely through thetool'in-closed passages, and is discharged in front of the forward faces of the cutting blades in such invention willbe perfectly elem from the foregoing description. en drilling the cutting blades are, of'course, advanced and gure', At

position as, is considered most effective.

It'is believed that the construction of my 95,

String is a gely, 1t not entirely, upon the cutting blades, and o crating shoe 31 is forced wholly or art y up into recess 35 and does not inter ere in any waywith the ,{Ldrillirigi .When the cutting edges of the blades ave become-worn, andit isdesired to advance them, the tool is raised a short distance from the bottom of the drill hole. This allows sprin '34 to press plunger'rods 30'downward anti in do ng this, racks 36 rotate pinions 28. The devices :engaged thereby then operate to lower the feed screwand advance the blades. The bladesuare advanced only a small-distance at a time,'

owing. to the great reduction ojf thegearing,

and the exact amount of advancement desired may be had by alternately raising and til'iies.

II Idesire to call particular attention to the fact that my invention is adapted for use w1th a-Jarge varietyof tools, including various types of drills, 'reamers, and such de-- lo. ering the tool the proper number of.

It. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods normally projecting from its end, and blade advancing mechathrough ratchet-s and interposed worm gear A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods with rack teeth thereon and their extremities normally protruding fromthe end of the tool; and blade advancing mechanism operatively connected to said racks through ratchets and interposed worm 'r slidable'plunger rods with rack teeth there on and spring constrained to have their ex-- gearing.

4. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods with rack teeth thereon and spring constrained to have their extremities normally project from the end of the tool; and blade advancing mechanism operatively connected to said racks through interposed ratchets and worm gearing.

5. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods normally projecting from its end, and a blade feeding screw .operatively connected to said rods throughinterposed worm gearing.

6. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods. normally projecting from .its end, and a blade feeding screw operatively connected to said rods through interposed ratchets and worm gearing.

7. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods with rack teeth thereon and their extremities normally protr ding from the end of the tool; and a blade fe l screw operatively connected to said racks through interposed ratchets and worm gear- 8. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods with rack teeth thereon and spring constrained to have their extremities normally project from the end of the tool; and a blade feeding screw operatively connected to said racks through interposed ratchets and worm gearing. v

9. A well tool comprising longitudinally tremities normally project from the end of ding the tool; and a non-rotating blade feeding screw with a rotatable nut thereon operatively connected to said racks through inter-- posed ratchets'and worm gearing for longitudinally advancing said screw.

10. A well tool comprising longitudinally slidable plunger rods with rack teeth thereon and spring constrained to have their extremities normally project from the end of the tool; and a non-rotating blade feeding screw with a rotatable nut thereon operatively connected to said racks through interposed ratchets and worm gearing for longitudinally advancing said screw; substantially as described.

, GEORGE -B. LOUDERBACK. 

